1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the tool exchange equipment of and the method of exchanging tools of the machine tool. To be detailed is pertinent with the tool exchange equipment of and the method of exchanging tools of the large-scaled machine tool which is equipped with the cross rail which is possible into the directions to go up-and-down.
2. Description of the Related Art
The conventional structure of the large-scaled tool machine has a cross rail capable of going up-and-down along a column, a spindle head movable on the cross rail, and a main spindle being detachable with a tool through the ram.
In the past, as one conventional tool exchange equipment (Prior equipment I) in the machine tool having such structure, it takes out a specific tool from the tool-pot magazine and makes this tool load at the height position of the cross rail with a elevator system. As the other tool exchange equipment (Prior equipment II), it has a tool-pot magazine to accommodate a plurality of tools in the cross rail.
However, there are the following problems in the above conventional equipment.
In the prior equipment I, since any of specific tools taken out from the tool-pot magazine should be positioned at the height position of the cross rail in order to be exchanged by an elevator system, it would take a time to exchange one tool into the other tool. Moreover, because it is necessary to institute an elevator system, there is a demerit that an organization is complicated, too.
By the prior equipment II which is of an organization providing with the tool-pot magazine on the cross rail, the weight which depends on the cross rail is too heavy to attain high accuracy of the movement and the positioning of the cross rail, so that the number of the tools in the tool-pot magazine may be limited. Especially, there are many heavy ones in the weight of the tool to use, too, at the large-scaled machine tool, the tool number which it is possible to accommodate is more limited.